Protection of Ancient Woodland and Trees

Amanda Milling Excerpts

Thursday 10th December 2015 Westminster Hall

[Amanda Milling (Cannock Chase) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow) on securing the debate and giving such a passionate and entertaining speech.

My constituency, Cannock Chase, takes its name from the beautiful landscape that was designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty in 1958. A large part of the chase is made up of natural deciduous woodland and coniferous plantations. Trees are an important part of the chase AONB landscape—how it looks, the views and the history of the place—and they are an important habitat for the birds in the area.

Only last Friday, I joined the AONB team on a tour of the chase, which gave me an opportunity to see at first hand the wide variety in the landscape and habitat, and to discuss many of the challenges of balancing the human use of the chase and the protection of the natural environment. I want to take this opportunity to commend the team from the AONB and thank them for that tour.

Despite the fact that a large part of my constituency is made up of forest—perhaps I should say trees—it contains a relatively small number of areas of ancient woodland. There are more in the seat of my neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Jeremy Lefroy), with whom I discussed this topic earlier today. One of the few ancient sites in my constituency is Chetwynd coppice, which is just outside the village of Brereton. Interestingly, we do not know where all the ancient trees are, because they have not all been identified yet, but some keen volunteers have expressed a wish to seek them out.

Ancient trees in woodlands are more than just plants: they reflect the landscape and tell stories about the culture of a place and the people around them. We have heard from fellow Members today about the various benefits of ancient woodlands and the real dangers that they face from construction and development. Green spaces such as forests, woodlands and ancient woodlands provide real social benefits and improve humans’ physical and mental wellbeing. I will take a few moments to discuss that topic.

Cannock Chase attracts tourists from far and wide, as well as being enjoyed by locals. Whether you are a keen walker, cyclist, runner or horse rider, Mr Turner, there are plenty of activities on offer across the chase. Birches valley, just outside Rugeley, is home to Go Ape and Swinnerton Cycles. In the summer of this year, Cannock Chase hosted the cycling leg of the inaugural Staffordshire Ironman 70.3.

With tourism come challenges, however, as the team from the Cannock Chase AONB discussed with me on Friday. Although we must encourage people to enjoy our natural environment, whether it be forests, woodlands or even ancient woodlands, it is imperative that we do so in a responsible way. In Birches valley, the Forestry Commission has worked hard to manage tourism by signposting visitors to trails and paths to ensure that they can enjoy the area without the natural habitat and its inhabitants, which include a herd of fallow deer, being unduly affected by tourism. I understand that the Forestry Commission has undertaken work on the dangers of tree and plant disease for the long-term sustainability of the woodland landscape, which will be all-important to protecting commercial forestry and the much-loved ancient woodlands of the chase. One of the key parts of protection from such diseases is ensuring that professionals and the public stick to some basic biosecurity measures such as washing boots when they come in after being out for a walk.

Like many of the residents of Cannock Chase, I am passionate about the chase. It is not surprising that the idea that Staffordshire County Council might sell off its land was met with a public outcry. I welcome the news that the current county council’s consultation on the management of the Staffordshire countryside estate recognised that outcry, and that it is looking into maintaining the current management and ownership arrangements, which it sees as the most appropriate option. I encourage residents to take part in the ongoing consultation regarding the management of country parks to ensure that their voices are heard loud and clear.

Ancient woodland and areas of outstanding natural beauty are important national assets and hugely beneficial to our wellbeing. Although visitors and tourism to those areas provide real benefits to our local economies, we must ensure that we balance that with the need to protect and conserve the areas for future generations. We must ensure that our ancient trees live on.